Blessings of God's Keeping and Our Perseverance

So often in Scripture, the blessings remind us of both God's promise to keep us in His grip and the necessity of our perseverance.  My prayer today is that the following will be true for you and me!

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)

 

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)

 

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21)

 

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 24-25)

Live free in Christ! Live by the Spirit! Love one another!

“For freedom Christ has set you free” (Galatians 5:1). Paul wrote these words to individuals who had returned to their old thinking of deliverance from sin by practicing the law. Certainly, the infant believers had been deceived by false teachers, but it didn’t require much for them to be convinced that they were incomplete. As a result their identity in Christ had been compromised, their view of truth had been skewed and the Spirit quenched. Essentially, the teaching the Galatians had heard from the false teachers taught that Christ is not enough. Enough for what? Enough to save you, enough to discern truth by, enough to set you free, enough to produce joy. Many Christians today have been ‘bewitched,’ by the, “Christ is not enough,” teaching. There are two primary sources of this teaching; the culture and the Church.

Our culture is constantly attempting to convince us that who we are in Christ is incomplete. We have a multitude of labels, most not very nice; bigot, homophobe, hatemonger, narrow, etc., just to name a few. With those labels comes uncertainty. Uncertainty in what we should be, think, say and do. All of the criticism, which absolutely no one wants, causes one to blend into the mix, becoming nearly unidentifiable. Before long, we are no longer testing truth by Christ but by culture, we are no longer living by the Spirit but by the flesh, thus the culture is no longer surprised that we do not join them in their “flood of debauchery” (1 Peter 4:3-4) but surprised that we do. This is not only the wrong message for a Christian to deliver to a culture hostile to God; it is not freedom in Christ, but slavery to culture.

The Church has a culture of its own. Just look at the way we dress, speak, think and behave. These are elements of our church culture. Certainly our church culture is influenced by scripture and it is right to have a culture in the church that reflects the commands of God. However, we also tend to make these elements of our church culture mandatory to fellowship and community. Before you throw a shoe, know that I am not suggesting that a body of believers should be accepting of inappropriate (revealing) attire, foul language, worldly thinking or immoral behavior among its members. I am suggesting that we evaluate whether we are upholding scripture in our assessments of other believers or showing partiality. Are we demonstrating that Christ is enough? Or are we demonstrating that if you don’t look like us or share our views, from politics to the Cowboys, you can be here, but you can’t be a part of our community? James calls this view sinful (2:9). It is not freedom in Christ, but slavery to culture; a church culture.

Interestingly, both James and Paul agree on the outflow of freedom in Christ, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” which in Christ is the fulfillment of the law (Galatians 5:14; James 2:8). Paul instructs us further in saying that the Spirit, rather than the law, empowers our freedom, defines truth and makes our identity certain. In other words, freedom in Christ is slavery to Him and nothing else.
Live free in Christ! Live by the Spirit! Love one another!

Transforming Your Family

Marriage and family are primary concerns in my ministry.  Marriage is the highest human relationship.  When parenting supercedes it the results are disastrous.  Parenting is brief, marriage is a lifetime.  Understanding this one truth can be transforming.  It is transforming because a strong, Christ-centered marriage is foundational to good parenting. Voddie Baucham lists three things that make prioritizing our children over our marriage both foolish and dangerous:

1. Our children will eventually leave home. Prepare your marriage for the empty nest:

To my knowledge, I’ve never talked to a person who divorced after twenty-five or thirty years who didn’t say something like this: “Once the kids were gone, we realized we really didn’t have much of a marriage.” Building a marriage on the foundation of the preeminence of children is like building a house on a rented removable slab. You may have days or even years when you feel completely secure, but the day is coming when the lease will be up and the foundation upon which your home stands will be taken away. A family shepherd must not allow his family to fall into this trap.

2. Our marriage forms the cornerstone of our children’s security:

Ironically, those who prioritize their children above their marriage are not only jeopardizing their marriage, they’re actually depriving their children of the very thing they desire to provide them. The greatest source of security our children have in this world is a God-honoring, Christ-centered marriage between their parents. Putting the children first is like a police officer putting away his badge and gun in order to make the public feel more at ease. A family shepherd must put his marriage before his children in order to provide them with the security they both need and desire.

3. Putting your marriage first will actually prepare your children for marriage:

Prioritizing your children above your marriage is both foolish and dangerous because it sets a precedent that contradicts one of the greatest lessons you’ll ever teach your children—how to be good husbands and wives. We must first and foremost model a commitment to marriage. Failure to do this will communicate ideas that are contrary to what we believe—starting with the narcissism it tends to create in our children—including the pitfalls that may follow them into their marriage. For example, if we prioritize our children above our marriage, we teach our children that marriage exists for children. If this is the case, how will our children react to the early months or years of their marriage when there are no children? How will they respond if, God forbid, they should struggle with infertility? If the heart of marriage is “living for the kids,” these scenarios could be difficult at best.

The Ransom

Bound by sin and guilt and shame
I call upon His precious name,
and discover the price at Calvary
is more than enough to ransom me.

Oh Mighty King how can it be
that on the cross you ransomed me?
Blood flowing down from piercing crown
bathed all my sin and ransomed me.

Now I am loosed from sin to be
bound to Him for all to see.
So they may know the power and love,
of the One who came to set us free.

The Lie

“For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.”  (Romans 1:25)

What would you trade for your relationship with Jesus?  Nothing I hope.  However, we tend to make bad trades everyday in relation to our walk with Jesus Christ.  People on a daily basis choose ‘the lie’ over God’s truth by succumbing to temptation.  We determine that God wants us to be happy and then determine what will make us happy.  Often what we choose to make us happy does not line up with God’s will.  What is this called?  Idolatry. 

Idolatry is the sin of the mind against God.  You may not think at the time of any decision, “I think I will go against what God wants,”  but when you act against His will knowing what His will is you have committed idolatry. 

The word ‘rather’ in this verse literally means to by pass.  In other words, those who committed idolatry never even considered what God wanted.  Instead, their consideration was according to their own desire.  They believed ‘the lie.’ (I bet you are wondering why I keep quoting ‘the lie.’).  Let me explain.  The word for lie in the Greek is preceded by a definite article which is translated ‘the.’  So instead of this being just any old lie it is the lie. 

In the Garden of Eden, Satan told Eve, ‘You won’t die!  When you eat this fruit you will be like God.’  Satan informed Eve there was something missing in her life.  There was more to be had.  Satan would have made a good advertising exec, in fact I think he is.  The goal of advertisers is to convince you there is something that will make you happy, and it is what they are selling.  We believe every day that if I had this or that I will discover what I have been looking for.  It’s ‘the lie.’

What every person is looking for is discovered in what we keep passing by, a real and personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Are you believing the lie?  You and I cannot walk in light and darkness at the same time (1 John 1:6).  You and I cannot love the world and the Father at the same time (1 John 2:15-16).  You must make your choice, who will you believe?

Encouraging Words for Troubled Lives

In my blogpost, Suffering, I attempted to bring some light to how we cope with it.  The following are some words from a couple of great servants of God to encourage those who are going through trials.  The words of Alan Redpath are taken from a sermon.  Andrew Murray's words are taken from his journal during a time of trouble.  Both quotes have been encouraging to me during tough times.  I hope they are helpful to you.


"There is nothing--no circumstance, no trouble, no testing--that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ right through to me.  If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose, which I may not understand at the moment.  But as I refuse to become panicky, as I lift up my eyes to Him and accept it as coming from the throne of God for some great purpose of blessing to my own heart, no sorrow will ever disturb me, no circumstance will cause me to fret, for I shall rest in the joy of what my Lord is--that is the rest of victory!"  -Alan Redpath, former pastor of Moody Church


“First, He brought me here.  It is by His will I am in this straight place.  In that fact I will rest.  Next, He will keep me here in His love and give me grace to behave as His child.  Then He will make the trial a blessing, teaching me the lessons He intends me to learn and working in me the grace He means to bestow.  Last, in His good time He can bring me out again – how and when, He knows.

 Let me say I am here…

1.                  By God’s appointment

2.                  In His keeping

3.                  Under His training

4.                  For His time”   -  Andrew Murray

Antiperspirant and Tents: Why Jesus Came!

Perhaps my favorite of all verses that relate to Christmas is John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”  This simple verse states Christ’s transition into this world and His purpose for coming. 

His transition was painful.  “The Word (God the Son) became flesh.”  He left the place of life and came to where death was reigning.  Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus, “for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross.” The ‘for’ in this verse is the Greek word ‘anti.’  This word means instead.  We identify with this word every day when we get dressed and apply antiperspirant because instead of perspiring we want to be dry.  Or if you suffer from athletes foot perhaps you regularly apply antifungal cream because ‘instead’ of fungus you want feet that are blemish free.  With this in mind, we can understand that Jesus, “instead of the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross.”

What joy did Jesus refuse in order to endure the cross?  It was the joy of glory where He continually enjoyed the worship of the angels.  The picture painted by the writer of Hebrews is that of a wealthy businessman losing his fortune and being forced to move to the projects.  Jesus left glory for gloom, diadems for despair.  And He did so because of love for you and me. 

During Jesus’ ministry here on earth He was often found in the places where suffering, sin and sorrow were at their highest.  “and dwelt among us.”  The word ‘dwelt’ can also be translated ‘tabernacle.’  Jesus pitched His tent among us, a troubled people.  Jesus came to touch the untouchable, reach the unreachable and love the unlovable.  He came to reveal God’s salvation and holiness to us apart from our effort. He came to reveal what had been known, ‘before the ages began,’ that by God’s grace and purpose we are saved to life and immortality through the gospel (2 Timothy 1:8-10).